


I’ll come to thee by moonlight

by Kt_fairy



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Possession, Psychological Horror, Spooky, but not really, i'm not smart enough for that, weird Halloweenie shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-25 15:38:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12535164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kt_fairy/pseuds/Kt_fairy
Summary: Dex had pulled up in the middle of the hallway, looking straight into the den, his shoulders rising and falling in time with his rapid breathing. He stepped slowly, cautiously, through the doorway and they all followed closely behind, Chris putting out his arm to stop Dex going any further than the couch.Derek looked around the room, seeing nothing odd but not really being comforted by that, glancing over at Dex and watched as the remaining colour drained from his face, leaving just the smudges under his eyes and the purpling bruise on his jaw, wide eyes fixed on the far corner of the back wall, “I swear to god if any of you chirp me for this...”





	I’ll come to thee by moonlight

**Author's Note:**

> I done another spooks. My first spooks is [ artemisa absinthium](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10889220) which is more creepy than whatever the fuck this is. Check it out if you want. Or not. Do your own thing. 
> 
> Title is taken from The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. I had a book of that poem as a kid and it freaked me oooutttt.

 

 

 Derek turned the silver pocket watch over in his hand, feeling the unexpected but pleasant weight of it, running his gloved thumb over the faint inscription on the back.

“You have a watch”, Dex muttered from behind him.

“You do too. Same as Chris. Funny that”, Nursey said, feeling Dex roll his eyes.

 He raised the watch, tipping it into the light to try and make out the faded copperplate inscription on the back;

                                                                           _1738 mine dearest Richard T_ …

 The rest of it was so faded he would probably need Cait to stick it in the Geology Department's UV microscope to to have a chance of reading it, if there was anything left at all  _to_ read.

 The lid flipped open sharply when he pressed the catch and he was surprised by the mother of pearl face showing hints of the golden movement behind it.

“Fifteen bucks?”, he clarified, looking up at the stall owner who was bundled up against the fall weather.

“Yep. That’s my absolute best price.”

 Derek stopped himself from scoffing, eyeing the array of silver objects on the table in front of him which were all very generously priced for the local Samwell flea market, “Tryin’ to get rid of it huh?”, he asked as he dug out his wallet.

“Something like that”, the guy replied, extricating his face from his scarf to shoot Derek a polite smile as he changed the twenty Derek handed to him, “Thanks, have a good day.”

“You too man.”

 He held up the watch by the chain so Dex could look at, grinning when all he got was a raised eyebrow, “Seriously?”

“Aesthetic.”

“Aesthetic _fuck_. Does it even work?",

 Derek made to shake it and Dex grabbed his arm, “You’ll break it!”

“Thought you hated it?”

“I don’t hate it, jus’ don’t know why you bought it.”

 Derek shrugged, “Liked it”, he said, pausing before winking at Dex, “You know I always get what I like.”

 Dex narrowed his eyes at him, cheeks already pink in the cold, and held out a hand, “Lemme look.” He turned it over critically, seeming to inspect every angle of it, peering at the movement behind the face like he had any idea about watches. Finally, inspection passed it seemed, he wound it up with careful fingers before shoving it under the flap of his hat to press against his ear.

“Watch whisperer”, Derek breathed, laughing when Dex’s mouth twitched into a faint grin.

“Works”, he grunted, holding it out for Derek to listen to the delicate, precise ticking, his warm palm resting against Derek’s cheek.

“Thank’s babe”, he said quietly, pecking a quick kiss to the exposed patch of soft skin where Dex's sleeve had pulled back from his wrist, fumbling for the watch when Dex handed it to him.

“Come on, we have more than enough of those tacky things Bitty’s wants.”

“Creepy”, Derek corrected, pocketing the watch as Dex bent to pick up their box.

“Tacky”, Dex said again, reaching in to pick up one of the questionable figurines that had probably been a great idea in the twenties and holding it as if to prove a point. Which, to be honest, he kind of did.

“I know you New Englander’s are surrounded by spooks all the fucking time but come on man, if you had one of these in your room you’d totally turn it to face the wall.”

“Nope”, Dex said, popping the ‘p’, “I’m the scariest thing in every room.”

 Derek snorted, then laughed out loud, “That explains so much about you.”

 

                                                                                    _X_X_X_

 

 “There now, isn't that startin’ to look swell”, Bitty said proudly, stepping back with his hands on his hips to admire his Halloweening of the den, “Almost gonna be as spooky as that couch.”

“That couch has Goalie powers in it, be respectful,” Chris declared as he tried to help remove some of the fake cobwebs that had got caught in Derek’s hair.

 Bitty gave him a withering look and went to place one of the figurines Derek and Dex had found - a dark haired milkmaid with a badly painted, bright red rictus grin - in an alcove in the corner of the entertainment centre, “That is truly horrific. It’s perfect! I both hate and love it.”

 “They’ll totally get broken”, Derek stated.

“Yeah they’re so gonna get broken”, Chris agreed, finally pulling the errant bit of decoration from his curls and holding it up in triumph.

“ _Well_ ”, Bitty said in his bless-your-heart tone and they both snapped around to look at him, “what were your groundbreaking idea’s for Kegsterween decoration? A fake spider or two maybe? A crappy skeleton from Walmart?”

“Blood of the LAX bro’s up the walls”, Dex called from the kitchen where he was pumpkin-ing up some of Bitty’s signature brownies.

“Lord above that boy will bake a devil into those brownies”, Bitty muttered as he hurried off into the kitchen, the sounds of him and Dex not quite bickering wafting into the den as Chris leant against the back of the couch, trying to get the stick cobweb off his fingers.

“Dexy’s getting in the mood I see.” 

“Halloween brings out the Stephen King in him.”

“ _Heee_ Who _Waalks_ Behind The _Graaaaaaiiiinssss_ ”, Chris sung in his spooky voice, laughing when Dex yelled from the kitchen about that being set in ‘Fucking Nebraska’.

“Stephen King-y, told ya. Oh hey”, Derek dug around in his sweater pockets to bring out the watch, “Check out what I picked up at the fleamarket.”

 Chris straightened, eyes widening ever so slightly as he looked at the watch. He glanced at Derek, expression unsure, and reached out to brush his fingers over it, snatching his hand back to his chest like it had shocked him.

 “Ohmygodwhat!”, Derek panicked at the sudden movement, jumping back from his own hand which was still held out between them.

“That watch. It’s...there’s something not right about it.”

“What?”

“I - uh - I dunno how to say this but it’s giving me some really strong cursed vibes, man.”

“If this is like your weird puck thing…”

“No! This isn’t even rubber man come on. No, this is serious.”

“What!”

“I can feel it...its the old knowledge from my village in the mountains, ancient Chinese Zen Mysticism.”

 Derek gaped at him for a moment before socking him hard in the arm, “Fuck you Chow I was getting mad freaked!”

 Chris hugged his arms to himself, laughing, “Oh dude, I knew I should have dragged that out longer.”

 “You're from fucking Hong Kong!! I can’t believe you!”

“Hahaahaa, your face!”, Chris sighed, looked at Derek again and snorted, “What did Dex think of you buying that?”

“Not a lot. But he got it working for me so…”

“Wow, true love.”

 Fixing things _was_ Dex’s way of showing he cared, he wasn’t really a flowers and chocolates kinda guy, and despite thinking it was dumb and useless Dex had wound the watch up anyway because Derek liked it. He was a hopeless, bleeding heart romantic and the emotion he knew was behind that small action made this fifteen buck watch special.

 Dex played himself, _knowingly_ played himself, and that’s why Derek was dating him.

 He closed his fingers tightly around the watch and whacked Chris in the arm again for good measure, “Yeah it is, and way better than anything I get from you!”

 

                                                                                    _X_X_X_

 

 The door handle to the bathroom was Derek’s nemesis. Dex had already changed it once but he still got tangled in it at least once a day, either almost puncturing his kidneys with it or getting it caught in his clothes. Today the latter happened, Derek clattering into the bathroom and letting out an undignified yelp when he was jerked into the closing door which smacked into his back, Cait’s hand darting out to grab him so he didn’t slip over.

 “Dex, you need to change that fucking handle again”, she barked as she tugged at Derek until he was balanced again, “good thing you didn’t make me crack my face-mask!”

“Concerned much”, Dex muttered around his toothbrush as he went to help Derek untangle himself.

“If he didn’t...Derek Nurse has spent most of the time I’ve known him on the floor, he’s indestruct…”, Derek waggled his eyebrows at her over Dex’s bent head and she snorted, “yeah that as well.”

“The wooden floor’s too hard for him.”

“Him? _Scusami, sono proprio qui davanti a te_.”

“It’s too late for your weird flirting. I’m coming back to wash this off, don’t be making out or anything.”

“Don’t worry, I know you don’t wanna miss the show”, Dex threw over his shoulder with a grin, Cait twirling to shoot him a wink before flicking Chris’ door closed.

 Derek was finally untangled from the door, checking he hadn't ripped yet another hoodie as he shuffled over to the sink behind Dex, “I’ll change the handle again. Probably move it to a different height, I think that's causing the trouble more than the shape.”

“Don’t, like…”, Derek sighed, waving his toothbrush around before popping it in his mouth, “I’ll just be more careful.”

“Well yeah. But you’re no use to me broken are you?”

“Such romance!”, Derek sighed, swooning back against the counter, “I'm the luckiest boy alive.”

 Dex smiled at him in the mirror, a faint pink tinging his ears, and Derek grinned back, making a concerted effort not to dribble toothpaste down himself. For want of anything better to do while he brushed his teeth he watched Dex rinse his brush and then bend to wash his face, letting his eyes linger on the faint freckles at the nape of his neck and the swell of his biceps.

“Dexy”, Derek sighed while Dex was drying his face, “Do you love me?”

 Dex peered at him suspiciously over the top of the towel, lowering it to answer, “ Yeah I love you. Why?”

 “Just like hearing it”, Derek smirked at Dex in the mirror who couldn’t help but look so achingly fond Derek wanted to melt, “Not gonna ask me if I love you?”

 Dex brushed the backs of his fingers lightly against the grain of the stubble on Derek’s cheek, leaning his other hand on the small of Derek’s back as he leant into his space, “I don’t need you to tell me.”

 Derek turned to look at him, the openness of his face making him seem vulnerable, bared raw just for Derek (and sometimes Chris when they were having a Frog moment, but that didn’t matter right now), taking the toothbrush out of his mouth to give him a minty kiss, “You’re going to ruin me for all other men.”

 Dex grinned as he gave Derek’s ass a squeeze, “That’s the plan.”

“Why don’t you bunk up with me and we can...uh...insert appropriate innuendo here?”

“As great as you make inserting innuendo’s sound I gotta get up and finish my homework tomorrow”, Dex leant back and stretched, back clicking like an old man and Derek told him so, “Defo going to my own bunk now.”

“Fine. Don’t want you cracking and squeaking next to me all night, old man of the sea.”

 

 Dex was already up in his bunk when Derek came out of the bathroom, turning on his phone light so Derek could make his way safely across the dark room, leaning down when Derek rocked onto his toes to kiss him, reaching up to cup the back of his neck “G’night babe.”

“Night D”, he murmured, letting himself be pulled down for another chaste, lingering kiss. “Love you,” he sing-songed, gently squeezing the hand on his neck before pulling back and turning his light off, bunks creaking as Derek burrowed into his blankets and they both settled down, Dex’s breathing evening out after a few minutes like it always did.

 Derek lay quietly for a while, rolling way from the the beam of light coming from under the bathroom door as Cait finished up before bed, the plumbing whirring. The moon was out, a 'waxing gibbous' or something (he was very bummed that it would not be a full one for Halloween), and although it added to the brightness of the lights on campus it was never the same as a city, as Manhattan. The suburban silence was the worse though, had always unsettled Derek when he couldn’t sleep at Andover, the pressure of it ringing in his ears. He pressed his lips together as he remembered the feel of Dex’s kisses, wishing he had his warm body tangled with his, boney-ass elbows digging him in the side, repaying Derek’s whispered sweet nothings with fake grumbling and kisses.

_Is that what you want?_

 Yeah, he always wanted that. But, he reasoned, they had plenty of time for all that. Would probably get schwasty at Halloween and they could make out a tonne.

_What do you want? Deep down inside, deep in your heart?_

 Derek imagined backrubs, soft kisses on his hair, fluffly ginger hair tickling his chin where Dex was curled up against him, warm and solid. Morning coffee for reasons other than an early start, getting breakfast burrito’s and butternut squash lasagna more often. More genuinely helpless smiles that made his eyes crinkle. More lazy strolls together, hand in hand. Yeah, he thought idly as he slipped off to sleep, lulled by the peaceful rest coming from the top bunk, having Dex like that would be chill.

 

                                                                                     _X_X_X_                                                  

 

 Derek slipped into consciousness to a gentle touch on his jaw smoothing gently over his stubble, “I’m making breakfast but I just wanted to come up and say good morning love.”

 “M’rnin’ bab,” he grunted, eyes slipping open to peer up at Dex who was perched on the edge of Derek’s mattress, a mug resting on his knee.

“I brought you coffee.”

 Derek blinked at the mug for a moment before panic hit him, Dex holding it protectively against his chest when Derek scrambled to sit upright, his heart racing. Dex only brought him coffee when he had to be up for a 9am and Derek was positive he didn’t have one this morning. It was a Friday, he’d never put himself down for a 9am on a Friday. He knew himself better than that.

“Woah. It’s only coffee!”

“Dude, what did I forget?”

“Forget?”

“I don’t have 9am’s on Friday’s!”

“I know”, Dex smiled, holding out the mug again, “I just wanted to bring you coffee while I get you breakfast.”

 Derek blinked at him, then the mug, then back at him, “Seriously, what have I forgotten?”

“Nothing. Just thought I’d bring you breakfast.”

“Oh”, Derek said, feeling slightly disorientated as he took the mug in both his hands, “Thank you.”

 Dex leant forward and pressed a warm kiss to his cheek ,“My pleasure. Now you’re caffeinating I’ll go get your food.”

 Derek watched him move to the door, feeling a bit more more centred by the slightly too tight across the ass sweatpants Dex was wearing, “Didn’t uhh, you have homework to get done?”

“Woke up a few hours ago and did it.”

“Urgh”, Derek complained into his mug, “You wake up earlier than God.”

 

                                                                                     _X_X_X_

 

 Derek tugged his beanie down as far as it could go over his head, letting it go to push it into place with a glance in the mirror, watching as Dex laced up his boots. They’d eaten the french toast Dex made sat cross legged opposite one another on the bottom bunk, kissing the icing sugar and maple syrup off one another's lips.

 It wasn’t anything they hadn’t done before when school or hockey left them the time, but this felt different, Derek wracking his brains to try and remember what he’d obviously forgotten. He made sure Dex was bent over his boots before sliding over to the desk to check the calendar to see if today was colour coded but the date between Halloween and the Flea Market yesterday was blank.

“Ready to go babe?”, Dex asked, swinging his backpack over his shoulders.

“Sure.”

 They stomped down the stairs at their usual large Hockey boy volume, making sure everyone in the Haus was now awake, Dex emerging into the bright October mid-morning with an obvious shiver, tugging on his gloves.

“You cold?”

“Not really. Hey, you wanna walk along the river?”

 Derek paused at the end of the front yard and looked up at the turning leaves of the trees, wondering if he was going down with something and that was why he felt off-kilter and wasn’t feeling how cold it must be if Dex was shivering, “Do I feel like I’m running a temperature?”

 Dex looked concerned as he pulled his glove off with his teeth to rest the back of his hand on Derek’s forehead, “No. Why? Do you not feel okay?”

“Nah, ignore me. Walk along the river? You have enough time?”

“It’ll be fine, I know you like it along there just when the leaves are turning.”

 “Sweet. I mean, I’m walking you to class so…”, Derek held out his hand and Dex gripped it with a smile, falling into step as they took the long way to his lecture, shoulders bumping a few times before they left them pressed together, strolling along the banks of the slow flowing Samwell River under the trees that had all the warmth missing from the air in their soft red leaves.

 As idyllic as this was, a vision of a future Derek hoped they both wanted, it soon got close enough to the hour that Dex ran the risk of being late which he _hated_. Dex’s need to be on time wasn’t just him having a stick up his ass, being late stressed him out (admittedly not that difficult) in a way that the longer you were around him the more you realised how un-funny it was.

“We better speed up or you’ll be late.”

“I’m there early all the time, five minutes won’t kill me.”

 Derek actually stopped in his tracks at that, blinking at Dex who looked, well, chill, “Dude, have you done something?”

“What? No.”

“You’re being….you’re…”, Derek frowned, glancing over Dex and finding him perfectly in order, from the way he tied his laces to the neat lines of his coat collar and the faint guarded look in his eyes, “You’re not trying to get me all nice and happy to drop a bomb on me are you?”

Dex laughed, squeezing Derek’s hand, “Does that sound like me?”

“...No.”

“I can be nice to my boyfriend for no fucking reason, Nursey.”

“I know...Fuck, will you just run off to class please? You’re making me antsy at the thought of you being late.”

“Okay, okay. I’m going”, Dex pressing a longing kiss to his lips, “I love you.”

“Love you too. Go to class!” Dex squeezed his hand one more time, letting go of it like he was reluctant to as he turned to jog off down the path towards Founders, shooting Derek a smile over his shoulder before he disappeared between the trees.

 That was weird, Derek could feel it like cotton wool between his teeth, shoving his hands in his pockets as he glanced up at the patches of sky showing between the leaves.

It was too warm out for his beanie so he pulled it off, shaking his curls back into place with a sigh. Maybe Dex was finally in an actual, properly good mood, though with how the presidential election looked to be going Derek doubted that. Hopefully, and he did know how shitty this was, Dex would have a crappy lecture and be back to his usual self by the end of the day.

 

                                                                                     _X_X_X_

 

 By the time Derek met Chris for lunch he’d decided that he was being dumb. Dex could be so sweet it made Derek ache sometimes, and if he felt comfortable enough with showing that side of himself like this, so demonstratively, then Derek would not be the one to make him feel like that wasn’t okay just because it wasn't what he was used to.

 Plus when Derek had messaged him to ask how the study group for his engineering project had gone he’d got six knife emoji’s in reply. So everything was as it should be.

 “I know better, really really know better, but I feel like I should ask if you finally popped Dex’s cherry?”

 Derek pressed his eyes closed, flicking them open to stare at Chris across the table, mouth open and straw paused halfway to his mouth, “There’s a lot to unpack there, but mostly I gotta say what the fuck?”

“Did he fall off the top bunk then? Cause he is being suuupes not himself. Didn’t even RBF Riley Parker once in our mechanic’s class. Once. I thought he was gonna hate-fuck that dude waaaay before you two finally sorted out all your weird sexual tension.”

“It is super weird how you’re keeping track of our sex lives Chris, gotta say it.”

“I don’t have a TV in my room, what else am I supposed to do?”

“Give me your waffle fries.”

“Oh you can go fuck yourself, lacto boy”, Chris snorted, flicking Derek’s milkshake glass.

“He...I thought he wasn’t acting like himself this morning”, Derek muttered at his plate, twisting a fry between his fingers, his new found certainty wavering, “and I know it’s not because of an anniversary. I checked his wall calendar.”

“To be honest, even if it was an anniversary Dex wouldn’t be like this.”

“I know”, Derek rubbed his eye with the back of his hand, “This morning I... I thought I was being dumb. But it was almost automatic, this feeling something wasn't right. Not a gut feeling but a... a certainty.”

 Chris cast his considering gaze out of the window, “I know what you mean? The way he made notes in class wasn’t right.”

 Derek looked at him, “How’d you mean?”

“Too meticulous?”, Chris shrugged, throwing a burn bit of waffle fry into his mouth, “I know we chirp him for keeping his wrenches in exact height order but he’s not, like, over the top with it? He usually just takes notes of what he thinks he needs and I really don’t think he needed as many and as detailed as he was taking. It was almost word for word with the slides”, he blew out a breath, “I don't know.”

“You think he’s having some kinda third year melt down?”

“As opposed to his continuous just existing melt down?”

“He’s being weird though, right?”

“Yeah. No...yeah. A bit”, Chris sighed, “Told you that watch was haunted.”

“Not in the mood for that Chris.”

“Sorry man”, Chris reached across the table to squeeze his wrist, “it’ll work out. Talk to him, see what’s up, communication is the most important thing in a relationship. If Dex is stubborn about it you got me here for back-up. And if I don’t work we’ll get Captain Bitty in. Okay?”

“Okay. Thank’s Chris.”

“No problem, D. My bill for this most recent relationship counselling session will be in the post.”

 

                                                                                     _X_X_X_

 

 So, not everything was quite as it should be.

 Not that Derek did not trust his own perceptions, but when you lived with someone, was D-man partners on a high level NCAA team with them, and dated them, things could get a bit skewed. Chris was step back, a wide view, looking into the box from the outside, and if his goalie senses were tingling then something was up.

 But what? _Was_ this a third year break down? Had Dex’s short fuse finally burnt so low he’d snapped and found his zen? Derek had always thought it would be with more of a bang than this if it happened at all.

 It was more than just how he was behaving though, the longer Derek thought about that the more sure he was. Taken as purely actions they weren’t strange. It was more than that. It was Dex.

 Like when he had called Derek in the ten minuets their breaks matched up that afternoon. That wasn’t a common thing for them to do but it wasn’t unusual either, especially on bad days. But it was as if Derek wasn’t even really speaking to his boyfriend.

“Dex, do you love me?”, he’d asked, calling back to the quiet of the night before stood in front of the bathroom mirror, knowing Dex would try to huff at him but be unable to not tell him he did, maybe laugh at him, maybe threaten to hang up.

 Instead he got ,“I love you so much. I know I don’t tell you enough but I do. So, so much”, gushed at him.

 There was such a thing as Capgras syndrome, where you suddenly believed someone you knew had been replaced by a copy, but Chris had noticed too. Derek clung onto that fact like a lifeline for the rest of the day, doubting and second guessing himself when he should have been paying attention to lectures, getting into such a state he gave himself a tension headache and had to go and sit in a bathroom stall to calm down.

 He’d see Dex again soon and work it out. This had gotten seriously out of hand and if he was not careful he was going to convince himself this - **Dex**  - wasn’t really Dex and end up in intensive therapy with a nice lady his mom knew from her days at Cambridge.

 Rans & Holtzy were in the Haus when he got back, helping Bitty and Ford plan Kegsterween, their willing invasion of personal space and yelling distracting from the hysteria Derek had felt bubbling up all day. It was hard to be stressed when Holster was picking you up in a bear-hug while Ransom yelled about pumpkins.

"A mother-fricken Demogorgon Pumpkin Nurse! With all the pumpkin guts at teeth! S'awesome right?"

"S'gonna be mad gross."

"And fucking cool."

"We The Frogs are gonna be the Stranger Things kids as well."

"Mad photo op's. Jealous!"

“And where is your seasonally appropriate other half?”, Holster asked when he finally dropped Derek back onto his feet.

 Derek hesitated long enough for Bitty to frown at him, plastering his smile back on to joke, “Plotting the downfall of the political system.”

“That’s my dude!”, Ransom said, reaching for the tupperware boxes of brownies piled on the counter and looking comically hurt when Bitty slapped his hand away, “Bruh!”

“Y’all ain’t been gone that long y’all know the rules.”

“Bit’s, come on! For your old Captain!”

“Yeah and your other one!”, Holster wheedled.

“Us poor overworked Grads.”

“Working eighty-hour weeks for a start up like some goddamn hipster - no offence Nurse.”

“Full offence taken.”

“We’re starved of luxuries!”

“Have pity, oh you who date NHL big bucks!”

“Dex made ‘em so ya’ll just have to ask ‘im when he gets back.”

Holster flopped back into the chair, “He’ll never let us have any!”

“You guys are very dramatic”, Ford muttered, having watched all this dispassionately from where she’d taken the opportunity to finish the plate of cookies on the table.

“You ate ALL the cookies!?”

“You weren’t eating them!”

“Everytime I meet you, the more I get why Lard’s picked you”, Ransom said, holding his fist out over the table for her to bump.

 

                                                                                    _X_X_X_                                                                              

 

 Dex came stomping up the stairs about half an hour after the current and ex-captains plus team manager went off for a ‘leadership meeting’, which meant they were going to the one place twenty minutes from campus that wasn’t too hot on checking ID’s so they could all get tipsy.

 Derek carefully marked his page, tucked his book under his pillow, and sat up on the bottom bunk, listening to the hum of voices, one Dex’s and one he assumed to be Cait from her dry laugh, before the door to their room opened.

 He somehow expected Dex to look different, the eye colour to be wrong, the set of his shoulders too loose, something to give reason to what his senses were telling him, but it was regular old Dex who swung his backpack off his shoulder a little too violently - as always - onto the desk, working out the kink he got in his neck after long days as he came over to press a kiss to Derek’s cheek, “Hey babe.”

“Hey, good day?”

 Dex shrugged a shoulder, pulling off his coat as he went back to open his backpack. “The usual”, he said pulling out a bundle of kitchen paper he unwrapped to reveal a Halloween brownie, “S’not really contraband, ‘cause I made them, but ya’ know how Bitty gets about stuff made for things.”

“It's not really a Hallownie either, just pumpkin spiced.”

“Well they won’t be until someone puts icing sugar ghosts on them, duh.”

 Derek smiled, just about keeping a hysterical laugh down as he suddenly become very aware of the fact that he was trying to work out if this guy stood before him was actually his boyfriend.

 His eyes flicked down to the gloved hand holding the brownie, then to the beanie he’d had shoved in his backpack all day because it was too warm out to wear.

“I hope you’re gonna half that with me”, Derek said, nodding at the brownie.

“It’s for you.”

 Derek held out his hands to take it, nodding to the mattress next to him, “I’mma half it anyway. You deserve it.”

“For what?”, Dex asked as he folded himself onto the bottom bunk next to him.

“Humble much”, Derek muttered automatically as he split the brownie, only realising what Dex had said when he handed half over and saw Dex frowning at him, “For being wonderful and amazing at everything. The usual.”

 Dex smiled as he took the piece offered to him, Derek watching pink creeping up his neck to his ears as he shoved his half in his mouth, leaning forward to press a kiss to the hinge of Dex's jaw, grinning despite himself when he sat back to watch the blush get darker and blotchy. That was certainly a Dex reaction.

 “Hey”, Dex said quietly, knocking their knees together, “Wanna make out?”

 Of course he did, ninety percent of the time he was down, but he hesitated. If he was right, did he really want to make-out with whatever this was, and if he was wrong...he wanted to tell Dex his worries, get them out in the open, hear what he had to say cause he valued his opinion. Get help if he needed it, he wouldn’t be the first student whose mental health suffered because of the education system.

 He wanted to, but he did not, slipping his hand into Dex’s hair as he pulled him in for a kiss, pushing a hand up under his layers of shirts and jumpers to touch his smooth skin, Dex’s hands coming to rest on his thighs and he _knew_. It was insane and weird and like something straight out of a Halloween special but he knew, all the way down to his bones, that this wasn’t his man. Chris noticing something was up was proof that it wasn’t all in his head, but all the evidence he needed that this was true, no matter how impossible, was settling in his gut.

 “You’re so sweet”, Derek sighed, cupping the lovely freckled face in his hands, sweeping his thumbs over his brow bones, smiling sadly when those soft hazel eyes slipped closed, cheeks dimpling in a smile, “But you’re not my Dex.”

 Dex’s eyes snapped open, alarm bright in them for a flash before turning into languid amusement, “Darling, I’m all yours.”

 Derek had seen the alarm, too void of hurt or fire to be one of Dex’s wild emotions, and let him go. He sat back to try and control the swell of anger that _anything_ would try and deceive him with such a poor version of one of his best friends.

 “That may be so”, he said, voice wavering dangerously, “but you’re not my Dex.”

“What are you talking about? Of course I am.”

“Don’t patronise me. I know William Poindexter and you’re great an' all but you’re not him.”

 _Not_ -Dex snarled, the expression so similar to the one he wore on the ice Derek almost faltered in his certainty, “Almost a whole day, that’s how long it took for you to bring it up. Shouldn’t that tell you something?”

 Oh fuck, he was right. He was actually right. What the fuck?

“That I know my boyfriend?”, he said weakly, needing to say something to the unblinking eyes watching him.

“That he doesn’t treat you properly.”

 Derek recoiled, shoving at _not_ -Dex until he could extricate his legs from between his, “Who the fuck are you to say that!”

“Someone who can see a heart starved of affection, of softness and love.”

“No! Don’t you even dare try that mind trick shit on me. I know my own heart.”

“So you’re telling me you didn’t realise first thing that something was wrong?”

 Derek gaped at Dex,  _not_ -Dex, knelt on the bottom bunk. It was only kneeling, head ducked awkwardly to fit in a cramped space, but it looked so wrong, “I...no! Yes, I did. No, kinda. What the fuck does that matter, give him back!”

 _Not_ -Dex raised an eyebrow, unfolding himself gracefully to perch on the side of the mattress, not even pretending to move like Dex anymore and it was so weird and wrong that Derek took an involuntary step back, vaguely realising that he should be afraid right now, “Are you sure?”

"I'm pretty sure I want him back."

"No, about noticing."

“Dex brings me coffee you're not special.”

“With a -” it put on the gentle sleepy expression Dex had when he’d kissed Derek’s forehead and handed him his coffee, “ - ‘ _I’m making breakfast but I just wanted to come up and say good morning love_ ’ ?”

 Derek's head spun as he pressed at his temples with his palms, taking another step back, “Oh fuck.”

“I knew you noticed, and yet it took you until,” _not_ -Dex checked Dex’s watch, his fucking _grandfathers_ watch, “five p.m for you to bring it up. Not a single enquiry into my health or about what was going on. Not one word, while I showered you in the care and affection that was making you _so_ suspicious, luxuriating in it…”

“Don’t…”

“Don’t? You asked for this.”

“Fuck you I did not.”

“You wanted him to be gentle and loving and soft, you asked me yourself and I gave it to you. I said I could give you whatever you wanted and this was it.”

 Derek’s breathing picked up as panic kicked in. He had, he knew he had. But he’d been half asleep, surely only dreaming.

  _Not_ -Dex startled to it's feet when Derek slapped himself across the face, hoping the pain would wake him up, slapping himself again when it didn’t work, going for a third time, desperate now, when Dex’s familiar rough hands grabbed his wrist a little too hard, “What are you doing!?”

“Trying to wake myself up.”

“You’re hurting yourself!”

“You’re hurting me!”, _not_ -Dex looked down at Dex’s hand gripping Derek’s wrist and let go sharply, Derek cradling his hand to his chest, “He’d never do that. Ever. He would _never_ hurt me.”

“I didn’t...it was an accident. I’m not used to the strength but I will be. Don’t worry.”

 Derek felt like he’d just gone skidding across the ice in just a t-shirt, an icy burn running all up his back, “So that is his body then?”

  _Not_ -Dex looked down at Dex's body, “You liked everything about it so I saw no need in getting another one.”

 Derek took two staggering steps before he bolted for the bathroom, crashing in and hurling up pumpkin spiced vomit into the toilet, flinching violently when long fingers petted his hair. “Shhh, shhh it’s okay. It’s okay”, the voice such a comfort Derek could not even push him away right now, wanting to tuck himself into that sure, centring body that was making him want to recoil and hurl all over again.

“Nursey!”, Chris’ voice rang out, Derek looking up to find him stood in his flung open doorway, hair wild, Cait peering over his shoulder.

“M’okay C”, he croaked, not wanting to say anything about this until he was sure whatever it was in Dex was not going to hurt anyone.

 Chris gave him a long, hard look before his concerned eyes narrowed, flicking between him and _not_ -Dex, “We heard shouting.”

“Oh, just a misunderstanding. Nurse wasn’t feeling well and was getting cranky.”

“M’okay now C, really. Bad Taco”, Derek reassured, pushing himself up on trembling legs.

“Okay...lemme know if you need anything”, he said, looking between them again and Derek was certain the suspicious glance lingered longer on Dex as he and Cait backed out of the bathroom, leaving the door not quite closed behind them.

 Derek let _not_ -Dex help him back into their room, his eyes squeezed shut against the turmoil of emotions that being touched by something wearing Dex brought on, shrugging his hands away when he sat down heavily on the desk chair.

“I want you out of him”, Derek said in a quiet voice, glaring down at his shoes.

“Give me a few days and I’ll be so much like him…”

“No.”

“I can cherish you Derek”, _not_ -Dex said gently as it knelt at his side, “Like you want”, Derek glanced over, wishing he hadn’t because Dex looked so cute right now. Big earnest eyes and mouth generously curved and lush like it was in sleep, not set with petulance like when he was awake. Another reminder that this was someone - thing - else, “Like you deserve. Boys like you should be shown devotion, wholeheartedly, and I can give you that. Doesn’t that tempt you?” 

 Derek closed his eyes and bowed his head further, knowing it was just as much of an admission as if he’d said Yes out loud.

“Let the shock fade”, _not_ -Dex said softly as he shuffled a little closer on his knees, “let yourself get used to this over the next couple of days. See how you feel then, huh?”

 Derek thought about it, what it would be like to have all those warm, sweet, soft things he had always wanted, not because of his parents or poetry, just his soppy romantic’s heart. ‘Who wouldn’t?’ - he rationalised, guilt beginning to rise like the bile still burning his throat when a memory suddenly came to him.

 Before they dated, in the period where they were somewhere between best frenemies and actual friends, Dex would put Derek’s socks on the locker room radiator when they got back in from practice, knowing Derek hated having cold feet and the tiles in the showers in the dead of winter pretty much guaranteed that. It was such a small consideration, something Derek could have done for himself if he could be bothered, but he hadn’t. Dex had. Dex, who had barely stopped actively being a pain in the ass, had done that. Continued to do it with Derek’s socks and sweaters on cold mornings.

 If being cherished looked like anything, why couldn’t it look like that?

 Derek looked at _not_ -Dex, ignoring the _not_ bit for a moment as he reached out for a hand that was readily given, taking courage from it. He wasn’t going to get pulled further into this white-people weird-ass possession fuckery - he was going to drag his boyfriend back whether he liked it or not.

 “I don’t want to be coddled or fawned over. I’m a frat boy, a NCAA Hockey player, and my independence and identity are paramount to me. I wanna be soft and vulnerable sometimes, everyone does, but I don't want that all the time. I couldn't live like that. You are lovely, but this won't…”

 The hand was ripped from his own, _not_ -Dex bolting to his feet and stalking across the room, turning suddenly on his heels and coming back over to Derek with such a look of range on it's face Derek jumped to his feet, gripping onto the desk to stop him toppling over the chair that got tangled between his legs. “But!”, _n_ _ot_ -Dex snarled, twisting his right arm back in a way that Derek could tell should be agony, “What if I popped this shoulder of out of it’s socket? What would do you then?”

“Don't you dare.”

“Hard to keep your scholarship with fucked up shoulder.”

“Don’t you fucking hurt him!”, Derek yelled, finally getting his feet under him and launching himself across the room to try and drag Dex’s arm down.

“Be even harder if I wreck his ankles.”

 Derek was handy with his fists on the ice and before he knew it he was drawing his arm back to punch  _not_ -Dex in the face, shocking himself as much as _not_ -Dex seemed to be as he staggered, arm finally dropping to his side. Even though he’d wanted to punch Dex more times than he could count he never thought he’d actually do it.

 “Real fucking sweet and loving, threatening my boyfriend's body to keep you around. What the fuck is wrong with you! Give him back!”

“Why do you want him back? He’s barely tolerating you.”

“Dex adores me. He’s not perfect but I’m not so conceited that I think I am either. And I don’t expect him to not be who he is, and he gives me the same respect back. I fell for a bad tempered, over-dramatic, monosyllabic compsci major who made himself worth my falling for. You _acted_ so sweet and kind but you’re nothing like him. Please.”

 “You imagined what this would be like so clearly, you wanted this when I asked you.”

 Derek sighed, flexing his fingers as his hand started to hurt from where it had connected with Dex’s jaw, “Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting.”

 Derek expected more of a fight, a big flash or a shriek or a whirlwind or something when whatever was in Dex left, because his force of will would _make_ it leave, but one moment he was looking into a well loved face where something was wrong and the next looking at one where everything was right.

 Dex blinked and then let out a gasp of pain, going to touch his jaw and almost doubled over, clutching his shoulder as the pain hit him. Derek was with him in an instant, supporting him as Dex’s legs gave out and he sunk down onto the floor.

 “Dex.”

“...the fuck?”

“Dex!”

“Ah Jesus Christ, did I get punched?”

“Dex!?”

“Nursey? What…?”, Dex frowned at him, something on Derek’s face making his eyes widen, “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Dex, do you love me?”

“Is this really the...yes. What the fuck?” Dex automatically held him around the waist with his good arm as Derek clung to him, "Nursey?"

“ _Alhamdulillah_.”

“Derek, what happened?”, Dex’s voice was so serious in its concern, direct, unfussy and uncomplicated and Derek adored it.

“I punched you.”

 Dex was quiet for a beat, “That got anything to do with why my shoulder feels like it was almost wrenched out?”

“A lot to do with that.”

“Okay”, he breathed, trying to lean back but Derek wouldn’t let him go, “Okay. I’m starting to freak out. Last thing I remember is going to bed and now I’m here and I’m in fucking pain.”, Dex winced and Derek realised his right arm was hanging losely at his side.

“Oh crap, your shoulder”, Derek hissed as he pulled back, very aware his hands were shaking as he gently held Dex’s elbow, bringing his arm between them, “Wiggle your fingers for me.”

“It just hurts, it’s not broken”, Dex muttered as he obediently wiggled his fingers, moving his arm around carefully, “Feels like I went into the boards funny.”

“Okay, okay. Lemme take a look”, Dex sat quietly as Derek set about carefully pulling off his jumper and unbuttoning his shirt so he could gently press his fingers into the flesh of Dex’s shoulder, “It look’s like it’s gonna bruise, but you’ve had bad bruises before. We’ll have to a ice it. I’ll call the physio for you, I- I - I don’t think you’ll have ligament damage but it’s best to check right?”, he took a deep breath, eyes flicking over to the angry mark forming on Dex’s jaw and finding he couldn’t look away.

“Nursey”, Dex pulled one of Derek’s hands down to hold tightly between his and all the terror his surge of adrenaline had been keeping down came back in one awful full body shudder as he curled against Dex, pressing his face against his throat.

 “I’m sorry that I let you get hurt.”

“Derek”, Dex said, sounding way too calm for how hard Derek’s heart was beating against his ribs, “Did I hurt you?”

“What?”, Derek gasped against his bare shoulder, sitting back to look him in the eye, “No of course you didn’t.”

“I literally don’t remember anything from today, and now I’m like, aware, you’ve hit me and my arm - it’s been bent back and…”

“You didn’t hurt me! You were...it wasn’t you. I knew and I...I let it go on until now but I knew it wasn’t you and I’m so sorry.”

“It wasn’t me?”

“No it...Oh god, I had a dream last night and it asked me what I wanted and I… I don’t know, I thought about how great it’d be if you were a bit more romantic and then I woke up and it wasn’t you. You weren’t _my_ Dex and…”

“So you made a wish for me to change, and then I did?”

“I didn’t wish! I didn’t know it was a fucking wish! If I had known it was some mad cray magic _djinn_ bullshit I’d have asked for an end to world hunger or some other fucking mortally correct shit”, he braced himself with is his hands on Dex’s thighs, “I let it go on ‘cause you not being you makes no logical sense, how...like it’s not even possible but I knew it wasn’t you. And when I told whatever it was to go it threatened to hurt you, it was going to ruin your Hockey and that’s why I punched you - it”, Dex sighed, rubbing at his forehead with the palm of his hand, “It sounds like I got way too high I know. But it happened! We can go and ask Chris! He was getting weirded out by you - not you - as well.”

 Dex let out a huff of a laugh, glancing around their room before meeting Derek’s eyes again, “I feel drained and gross enough to believe it, I guess. I’m from Maine, I can cope with some weird shit”, he narrowed his eyes, “But you asked for…”, he paused, mouth open, frown deepening like it did when he was trying to work out how to fix the bajillion year old heater in the basement, “ ‘Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting’. You said that.”

Derek gasped, “How do you know that?”

“I don’t...did you quote _Star Trek_ to get the thing to un-possess me? You fucking dweeb.”

“Hey! It worked didn’t it! ‘Sides you recognised it. Dweeb.”

 Dex smiled, favouring his shoulder as he shifted, something dark passing over his face, “I don’t know how I feel about...something being in control of me, or in me, like that. That's making me not want to believe you to be honest.”

“I puked when it told me this was still your body.”

“Wow thanks, hoping for an upgrade were you?”

“Don’t joke, dick.”

“M’sorry.”

 Derek cupped his face in his hands, being so careful of the bruise, and pressed a kiss to the side of his mouth, “Don’t be. S’how I know it’s you.”

“Don’t do that, or we’ll both need so much therapy in like four years.”

 Derek smiled, pressing their foreheads together, “I think I need therapy now.”

“We’re Millennials, let’s just go get the keys off Ford and skate it out.”

“Sound’s perfect. But, can I just say that I’m sorry for all this. For this happening to you and if you need anything to…”

“Hey, you got me back okay? I know I’m not the most showy of people…”

“That’s no excuse.”

“No. I mean that I’m not - I don’t know how to be so open with how I feel. But I’m tryin’. You give me a reason to.”

 That made Derek’s heart swell with a warmth so bright he could feel it in his fingertips. Every sweet word and cuddle and kiss he’d idly imagined the night before was nothing compared to that, “What d’ya mean tryin? You just covered me in big soppy lobster boy feels.”

  Dex pulled a face at him and Derek pulled one right back, laughing with relief when Dex darted forward to peck him on the lips.

 

                                                                                    X_X_X

 

 Cait, paying the price for being a physiotherapy major who hung around athletes, ended up being dragged over by Derek to take a look at Dex’s arm, her and Chris side eyeing the both of them hard as Derek’s hovered around Dex who was starting to get worrying dark circles under his eyes to match the blossoming bruise on his face.

 “Nursey I swear to god, go away!”, Cait snapped at him after the third time he had flinched when she tested Dex’s arm, shoving him at Chris and pointing at the reading room until they got the hint and left.

“Wanna tell me what that was all about?”, Chris asked as he settled onto the roof but Derek didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer, pulling his knees up to his chest and hanging his head between them in an attempt to stop the world spinning apart around him, “Nursey, you okay?”

“I think I’m in shock.”

“Oh shit, dude”, Chris hissed, shuffling closer and laying an arm across Derek’s shoulders, “What happened?”

“You know at lunch? Dex being weird?”

“Derek…”

“No, no not like that”, Derek slowly picked up his head so he could lean his cheek on his knee, facing Chris. “It wasn’t Dex.”

“...What?”

“I promise you I am not fucking with you, look at how my hands are shaking. I’m not. It wasn’t Dex. It was something in him. I...I don’t even know. I felt all day like I was going mad because I knew it wasn’t Dex but that doesn’t make sense does it? It must be me, but half an hour ago…”, Derek took a deep, steadying breath, “...it was as certain as the tiles under our butts, man. It wasn’t him."

 Chris sighed, taking his arm back and pressing his hands together between his knees, turning his head so he could look down frat row, “What happened with Dex’s bruises?”

 Derek wanted to protest, but knew how this must look to someone who hadn’t been in that room, or in his head. Shit, he wasn’t even sure how it looked being in the middle of it all, “I wanted it to go and it said it’d bust his shoulder, started twisting it around, said it’d do his ankles next so I hit it.”

 Chris nodded slowly, “I don’t think you’d ever do that, by the way, I just…”, he rubbed his eyes, “...what the fuck man?”

“You think I’m not feeling that? I don’t know if I’m about to have a breakdown or develop a stress ulcer.”

“We all have at least three of them.”

 Derek huffed, shaking his head as he flopped back to lay spread eagled on the roof, “I thought you were gonna think I was ragging you for the watch thing you pulled.”

“Not gonna lie, I did a bit.”

“But?”

 He shrugged, “You’re a really shit liar. Plus we could kinda hear your fight.”

 Chris allowed Derek the quiet to calm down, resting a sure hand on his arm as Derek took deep meditative breaths, having no idea how he was going to process all this when the shock cleared. After a while, as the sky was starting to streak orange and lilac as night came on, the window slide opened wider and they both looked over to see Cait leaning with her arms crossed on the sill, “So, a ghost.”

“S’what Nursey said too.”

 Derek sat up, leaning over Chris so he could see her properly, “How’s his arm?”

“I’m far from qualified Nursey, but he’ll be okay with rest. Your team physio should look at him but I’d say he needs a few days on IR, stretches, ice it, the usual.”

 Derek sagged, he’d known there was nothing really wrong with Dex’s arm but it was a relief to hear it from someone who actually know what they were talking about, “Thank you.”

 She waved him off, “I’m not one for ghosts, neither am I a psychologist, but with how Dex is right now, and Chris telling me before all this about him acting strangely. I dunno…” Cait stepped back and let them both come in off the reading room.

 Dex was sat slumped in the desk chair like he was exhausted, pasty skin starting to ashen, letting his head fall back so he could look up at Derek with bloodshot eyes when he crossed the room to him, “Hey D, how’re you?”

 “Me? A year’s just come off my life. How are you feeling?”

“As shit as I look according to Cait”, Derek shot her a look and she motioned at Dex.

“I said he should go to the medical center. No offence Dex, but you look terrible.”

“I think he should go”, Chris agreed and Derek looked back down at him.

“You wanna go?”

 Dex heaved himself to his feet, shooting Derek a look when he made to help him that he ignored. He needed hover for a while, needed to touch, to confirm that this was Dex and his ankles weren't about to be broken while Derek watched.

 “And when we come back,” Cait said as she slipped on the coat Chris had darted off to get her, “We’ll get rid of all the stuff you got at the flea market yesterday. Especially that watch, you don't have it in your pocket do you? Okay good.”

“You think it’s that?”

 Cait shrugged, throwing down the scarf Dex refused, “I'm not sure if I even believe you guys but I’m not risking it. This all happened after you brought that stuff into the Haus and I'm not going to have my Junior year become the next AHS series.”

 They went down the stairs in a heavy silence, Derek wishing he’d brushed his teeth before they went, his mouth still tasted like sick, and was about to ask Chris for a mint when he walked straight into his back, almost knocking the both of them over.

 Dex had pulled up in the middle of the hallway, looking straight into the den, his shoulders rising and falling in time with his rapid breathing. He stepped slowly, cautiously, through the doorway and they all followed closely behind, Chris putting out his arm to stop Dex going any further than the couch.

 Derek looked around the room, seeing nothing odd but not really being comforted by that, glancing over at Dex and watched as what little colour was left drained from his face, leaving just the smudges under his eyes and the purpling bruise on his jaw, wide eyes fixed on the far corner of the back wall, “I swear to god if any of you chirp me for this...”

“You mean it’s…?”, Chris started as they all followed his gaze to the badly painted milkmaid sat quietly in the shadow of it’s alcove, it's red grin showing through the fake cobwebs draped across it.

 “I really hate it now I know it’s actually creepy”, Derek breathed as he stepped closer, Chris moving with him.

“I think you should pick it up, ‘cause it likes you.”

“Likes me? Don’t make like it’s got a crush on me, Chris!”

“Well it wanted to be your perfect boyfriend so what am I supposed to think?!”

“Err…”, Cait said.

“I’m defo not touching it if that’s the case. You pick it up, it doesn’t have any interest in you.”

“I am not having that thing fuck with me and Cait…”

“Guys…”

“...I’m not gonna have it rip my arm out.”

“If it wants to be my boyfriend why the fuck would it do that?”

“It’s. A. Possessed. Statue. I don’t know!”

“Dex has a puck”, Cait said from the hallway and they both whipped around just as he dropped it onto the floor, “and Ollie’s stick.” Derek and Chris stumbled back to either side of the room as Dex checked the shot, shifted his weight, and wristed the puck at the statue that didn’t so much as smash as explode, pieces of porcelain flying around the room.

 There was a beat where everyone’s laboured breathing and the wobbling TV was the only sound, Derek and Chris staring at the crack that had spread across the back of the entertainment centre while Cait moved over to Dex, holding out her hand for the stick that he quietly handed over, “Well, that solved that problem.”

 Derek pulled his eyes away from where the statue had been to go to Dex, stopping just short of reaching out to touch him, heady with relief at how less grey and drawn he was already looking, “Dramatic but effective as always.”

 Dex let out a deep breath, a half smile pulling at his mouth as he pitched forward to lean his forehead on Derek’s shoulder, “Fuck that thing.”

“Well, yeah. You did fuck it up.”

“Dexy, sweet wrister bro. And with a stick with the wrong curve”, Chris said, coming to stand next to them with his sleeve pulled over his hand and a piece of the statue on it, “These bits are really hot, and burnt.”

 Derek and Dex pulled away as Cait moved in for a better look, “So did it explode? Dam. Looks like I’m more for ghosts than I was five minutes ago.”

 They used grocery bags to protect their hands as they picked up the bits of scorched porcelain from around the den, putting them all in an empty egg box that, when another argument looked set to break out about what they were going to do with it, Derek picked up and stormed out of the Haus, everyone trailing after him as he made his way to the river.

 Was he still scared? Very much so. Angry? Yes. Felt invaded, tricked into closeness and intimacy? Definitely. The violation made his skin crawl. Derek wanted to scrub every kiss he’d had today from his mouth, outraged that the peaceful walk along the river bank under those beautiful trees had been with a stranger’s hand squeezing his, forever tainting a place that he loved with fucked up memories.

 Furious that as unsettled as he was by all this Dex had been the one with something piloting his body around for nearly a day doing God knows what with it. Derek shuddered, grip tightening on the box, feeling like he could hurl again if it would do them any good, probably would have if they’d done anything more than kiss.

 Someone touched his elbow as they got the main bridge over the river and he flinched out of his whirring thoughts, looking down at Chris who had his concerned, I’d-be-captain-next-year-if-goalies-were-allowed face on, “How you holding up Nursey?”

“Freaking out”, he reached back and Dex’s warm hand automatically slipped into his, “Will be for a while I think.”

 They all stood in silence looking out at the dark river glinting a murky silver in the streetlights, their breath billowing out in front of them making it feel a lot colder than it was.

“What are we gonna tell Bitty about the missing statue. And the big crack in the TV center?”, Dex asked quietly.

“What are we gonna tell people about that shiner on your face?”, Cait said, moving to lean on the brickwork next to Derek, “Might need something to tell the coaches about your shoulder but from the way you hit that puck…”

“That was a sweet hit”, Derek agreed, glancing back at Dex who looked like he was trying to not be proud of it.

“Tell Bit’s we did some indoor shinny with a tennis ball and Dex got hit and fell and the thing broke”, Chris said as he came to stand with Cait, “he’ll see the bruise and get all doe eyed and fussy over his tall, athletic baking protege.”

“Please never say that in front of Jack.”

“Right, let’s do this”, Derek let go of Dex’s hand and opened the box, making to chuck it when he hesitated, “or do you think this is like Lord of the Rings and I need to cast it into the fire from whence it…”

“Throw it in the goddam river Derek”, Dex snapped so Derek hurled the contents over the side of the bridge.

 No sooner had the splashes of the pieces hitting the water echoed up to them than a yell rang out and they all jumped, whipping around to see someone heading towards them from the main building.

“WHAT did you throw in the river?! You know that’s not allowed!”

“Oh fuck!”

 Somehow they managed not to trip over one another as they ran, scrambling to get away like campus security even had a chance of catching four college athletes.

 They split when they hit the road, Cait and Chris' laughter echoing around the East Quad as they raced across it, Dex reaching for Derek’s hand as they sprinted up towards Elm Street and the Haus faster than they really needed to, adrenaline flowing, blood pumping, young and alive and doing something dumb, having their college movie moment on the back of their horror movie moment, whooping up at the almost full moon watching them from behind a cloud.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


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